The game of poker is still in its infancy in India. Concentrated in only a few urban areas among the neo-rich youth, it is only now catching the imagination of the larger public. The reason for the lack of the game’s popularity in the country is largely due to the fact that it has the “gambling” tag attached to it and is largely frowned upon by the general populace who lack knowledge about the element of skill involved in playing what is probably the highest stakes mind game there is.

Such taboos, however, have not stopped Indians from taking up the game and become quite successful at it. A few of them have even started representing the country, albeit unofficially, at WSOP (World Series Of Poker) events across the world, managing to win handsome sums of money in the process.

In poker, it is said that success is measured only and only by the money you make and going by that adage, we have put together a list of the cream of Indian poker pros who have won the most amounts of money in tournaments across the world. It is an inspiring list and the sums of money exchanging will make you want to abandon everything else that you’re doing and jump into a game of online poker.

#1 Nipun Java

As per the Player of The Year (POY) rankings, Nipun Java is the best Indian poker player currently plying his trade. He has a POY score of 1,648.75 which puts him 688th on the all time poker money list but stands first on the Indian money list. His all time best rank on the money list is 686th while his current Global Poker Index ranking is 190th which, simply put makes him the 190th best player in the world.

Nipun’s total online poker earnings stand at $394,601 while his total live earnings are an astonishing $1,977,177 which makes him the highest earning Indian poker player ever. His biggest win came in 2016, when he won $16,280 on the WSOP Circuit in Cherokee.

In 2016, he also cashed at the WSOP Circuit in Los Angeles where he won $1,430 and finished 8th in the No Limit Hold’ Em Ring Event.